THEY marched in their hundreds to protect the cobbles in Beverley's market place.
Today, campaigners were meeting with East Riding Council to find out if their protest has had any impact.
If not, they have vowed to sit on the cobbled setts to stop the council from starting a £2.5m town centre makeover.
Adrian Stokes, one of the Save Our Setts campaign organisers, said they are determined to make the council listen.
He said: "My message to the council is that they have to consult properly.
"The feeling is very strong. It is pretty clear by this demonstration and the fact we have a petition signed by 860 people that we don't want to lose our setts.
"You will be surprised by the amount of people who will be willing to sit on the setts to stop the work going ahead."
It is estimated more than 500 people took part in a march yesterday from the Market Cross in Saturday Market to the East Riding Council building, County Hall, where the petition was delivered.
Protesters say the cobble setts can be seen in the first known print of the market place in 1829 and are an important part of Beverley's heritage.
East Riding Council is planning to replace the setts, which it says were laid in the 1980s, with block paving as part of plans to make the market place more pedestrian-friendly.
Civic Society history expert Professor Barbara English was invited today to meet East Riding Council about the work, which could start on Monday, January 14.
She said: "I have no idea what is going to happen at the meeting.
"My message to the council is 'please listen to us'. At the minute they are not.
"If not, the council will have a fight on their hands.
"Why destroy the setts when there are so many people who want to keep them?"
East Riding Council leader Councillor Stephen Parnaby says the majority of people are in favour of the scheme and is saddened by the protest.
He said: "The setts are a danger. People have said they don't like walking on them and people don't like pushing pushchairs on them.
"We don't have an agenda. We just want to improve the market place and make it a better visitor attraction and better for traders.
"I think when it's finished people will say 'wow, it's fantastic'."
Richard Zerry, 68, travelled from Driffield to take part in yesterday's march.
He said: "My wife is in a wheelchair and I wouldn't get rid of the setts."
Ann Mackevych, 58, of Beverley, said: "The footpaths are a disgrace but I certainly wouldn't get rid of the setts."
Among those at the front of the march was Ben Naylor, 19, who was holding a banner with his brother Daniel, which on one side said "Save Our Setts" and on the other said "ERYC Stop, Look and Listen".
He said: "I think it would be shocking to get rid of the setts.
"They've been here since 1829. They are part of Beverley."
His mother Philippa said: "The decision is bonkers.
"Historically, they fit with the style of the town and they are a perfect traffic-calming measure."
Also showing his support was Andrew Allison, Hull and East Riding co-ordinator of the Taxpayers' Alliance.
He said: "Nobody wants it. Ask people their priorities and it will be the roads that have been damaged by the floods.
"It is a vanity project."
